by Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY Sports

by Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY Sports

SOCHI, Russia â?? From the International Olympic Committee's perspective, all is well with preparations for the Sochi Games, which open on Friday. Still questions remain.

The Australian Olympic Committee imposed travel restrictions on team members in Sochi, advising athletes not to travel into downtown areas outside the secure perimeter. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said Sunday he wasn't aware of any other countries imposing similar restrictions.

"We believe security is being handled well by Russian authorities," Adams said.

Two suicide bombings in late December that killed 34 people in Volgograd, 400 miles from Sochi, have raised security concerns to an unprecedented level.

According to ABC News, Sochi hired a private company to kill as many of its stray dogs as possible ahead of the opening ceremony, despite a pledge not to kill the animals. Adams said the issue wasn't raised Sunday at the IOC meetings.

The owner of the company, Alexei Sorokin, told ABC News that he did not know how many dogs his company has removed from the streets.

"Imagine, if during an Olympic games, a ski jumper landed at 130 kilometres an hour [over 80 mph] and a dog runs into him when he lands. It would be deadly for both a jumper and for the stray dog," he said.

"Dogs must be taken off the streets even if that means putting them to sleep," he added.

Sorokin said his company generally uses poisons and traps, but denied suggestions of animal cruelty. He described his work as a public service.

"I am for the right of people to walk the streets without fear of being attacked by packs of dogs," he said.

"Let's call things by their real name. These dogs are biological trash," he said.

Following criticism from animal welfare groups last April, Sochi officials had said they cancelled plans to kill more than 2,000 stray cats and dogs. Instead the city pledged to pursue an alternate route of "keeping, treating and sterilizing animals," according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

If athletes want to make a statement about Russia's anti-gay legislation, they aren't permitted to demonstrate on the podium, but they can express their opinions at news conferences, Adams said, reiterating comments that IOC president Thomas Bach made last week.

According to the Sochi Olympic organizing committee, only six of the nine media hotels in the mountain area are fully operational. Adams said that although a few hotels aren't ready, "it doesn't mean they're empty shells with no beds." Adams said that not a single person has gone without a room and that if a room wasn't ready, a better or similar room was found. He said the accommodations should be ready by the time the Games start.